All 34.0 - Nisa Redfern
With the Firehawk defeated, the group returned to where they had left Ryuji, Itzli and the borrowed chimera Icarus. They set up Itzli as comfortably as they could in the burned waste and left him with the chimera. Everyone else then teleported to Engiadina. They figured that they may as well start off into the Underdark immediately: they had little time, and now that Akroum was fully sealed, it was time to return to Mirilarin. Lucca and Victor went off towards Caitlyn’s apartment, where they knew Cheko was watching the children who they wanted to see. Cohen went with them, since he didn’t want to separate, but he also certainly did not want to join the other group that was going to see Caitlyn personally. He swore to Ryuji that he would not enter their apartment, not that he wanted to go in anyways. Pierce, Ryuji and Cress went to Caitlyn’s office, where she was surprised to see them again so quickly. She greeted her husband excitedly, Cress in a friendly manner, and Pierce politely. They explained that they wanted to go as soon as possible, to which she said that she could go prepare to leave in a few hours. Ryuji walked with Caitlyn back to her apartment while the other two went about the city. Caitlyn implied that everyone didn’t have to go, and she’d rather that everyone didn’t. Ryuji had to press her for a committal answer, but they eventually decided that since they were unlikely to meet anything to match the dangers they had been running into lately, only a few of them were needed. The pair decided to take Lucca and Cress, whose magic and fighting ability should round out their own talents without having to take the entire party. Caitlyn spotted Cohen as they entered the building's foyer, sitting low in a chair in the corner of the apartment building lobby, apparently reading. She stiffly ignored his presence. In her house, she saw Victor and Lucca. Her and Victor had a polite, formal exchange where he thanked her for watching the children, and she explained the plan to only take two people with her and Ryuji. The two men agreed to this. When they met back up with Cress and Pierce, they told Pierce that he didn’t need to go. He was at first confused, thinking that he was being excluded for being untrustworthy, but it was worked out so that he lent her his Wand of Sending, and said that he would check in and act as a back-up plan if something went wrong. Cress, Ryuji, Lucca and Caitlyn were teleported to Naiza Dawan, where they delved into the Underdark. As they walked through the darkness, not wanting to use too much light so as to not attract possibly violent creatures, Cress shifted into his hybrid form and locked himself in it using his bracelet so as to give himself heightened senses in the darkness. Two days of travelling later, they came upon a cavern that appeared to have a gated wall around it, with a fortress of some sort beyond. Lucca was feeling quite ill by this point: he had put on the Firehawk’s robe and it was already giving him a powerful fever, sapping his stamina and good mood. When they approached the open gate, they were surrounded by a squadron of short, hunchbacked skeletons armed with spears. Ryuji politely addressed them and asked to see their master. They shrugged and permitted them to go to the door. Suspended over the entryway was a huge cannon that the group vaguely recognized as sharing construction with their ship. After they knocked, the door was eventually answered by none other than Magdha. Everyone was less than pleased. Ryuji told her stiffly that she could have her chimera back; it was largely unsuitable for the task, and they had found another. She was happy with this, and immediately called the creature to her. It greeted her affectionately. When she finished greeting her pet, she explained that she wasn’t the owner of this fort. It belonged to her friend and she was merely visiting. When Ryuji asked to speak to the owner, Magdha explained that she had just recently lost something dearly important to her by thieves, and was in no mood to deal with them. Eventually the true owner did come out: a young woman, pale with dark hair, wearing a teal dress and large-lensed sunglasses. Her name was Nisa Redfern. She waved them off, in no mood to deal with noisy vivans, and took a seat in her courtyard among her numerous statues. Cress looked at the statues, suddenly reminded of the petrified people surrounding the Seat of the Firehawk, apparently Magdha's late home. Making the connection, the elf reeled on her, telling her to change them back and how she couldn’t just go around turning people to stone. Magdha returned all of his anger, daring him to look her in the eyes and say that. As he did, the illusion around her flickered slightly, revealing her true form as a gorgon as she tried to petrify him. The ability did not take, enraging Cress further. Before he could do anything, Ryuji Suggested that he go walk it off. Fuming, but unable to resist the compulsion, Cress stalked off. Magdha did the same, no longer interested in speaking to them. Caitlyn, after being asked politely by her husband to go try and talk to Cress, went off after the elf. Once she was gone, Ryuji approached Nisa and implored for her assistance: they were looking for a particular artifact thought to be held in a tomb around here. Nisa said that they were welcome to go look, but not to touch anything without getting her permission first. Ryuji and the grouchy Lucca entered the fort, and found that it was actually less of a fort and more of an entryway. Inside, they noticed a huge, softly-glowing orb suspended from the ceiling. It also appeared to match the construction of their ship. Finding the only hallway in the building, they followed it deeper into the earth down a freshly-dug tunnel and staircase. The tunnel led to a series of doorways and a long hallway of preserved people. Eventually, they found what seemed to be a royal tomb, but it had been stripped of everything. Deciding to go ask permission before trying to open the stone sarcophagus, they returned to Nisa. Ryuji spoke with her at length. At first she didn’t care much about their plight at all, but she was willing to talk to Ryuji: both could recognize that the other was undead. Her interest was piqued when he mentioned their ship. The longer they spoke, the more Ryuji revealed about themselves: that they had an ancient Valparisian ship, that they came from Mirilarin, where the elven nation of Riolythe still existed and still emulated their ancient cultural roots. Nisa revealed the staff that had once been held in the tomb, and it indeed bore a crystal core in its head: a moon pearl. She offered to trade it for the ship. Ryuji couldn’t make that call on his own, so he offered to take her to the ship, where he would collect the others and they could decide on her offer. Directing her to teleport them to Naiza Dawan, he used the Lightning Transit to take them to where the Gunakadeit was docked. Gemini collected the others and brought them to the dock. They conferred, and agreed to the woman’s terms. In addition to the pearl, she agreed to restore the two weapons systems she had found, the cannon and the orb, back to their original places in the ship. Further, she wished to join them on their final voyage back to Mirilarin: she was very interested in seeing the Elven Experiment, and what vestiges of her culture still lived in them. No one wanted to deny whatever help a lich wizard would give them. A few days were taken for Nisa to settle in the ship, and for Xander to convert their newly-acquired moon pearl into the needed focus, before they could set out on their journey home.Category:Advent of the All